31
May

Social Media, Other Distractions Cost Companies Big

$10,375. That’s how much in productivity the average employee blows each year because of social media and other distractions, concludes social email software provider harmon.ie. The survey of more than 500 employees from small and large businesses found that distractions (electronic and otherwise) potentially cost companies with over 1,000 employees more than $10 million each year.

About 53% of the workers said they are distracted for at least one hour each day—about 60% of those distractions are from digital sources like email, personal Facebook use, instant messaging, texting, and even web searches. They aren’t the only culprits, though: approximately 40% of the distractions come from the traditional variety, such as chatting with colleagues. For more details, check out Jolie O’Dell on Mashable and Aatekah Mir on The Wall Street Journal.

While companies can’t eliminate all productivity-plunging interruptions, they can include guidelines for personal social media use while on the clock within corporate social media policies. Does your office utilize social media policy to outline how employees access personal Facebook profiles, Twitter accounts, etc. on company time?